Odometer-driving mechanism.



E. S. SHIMER.

ODOMETER DRIVING MECHANISM. APPLICATION Hum 1.43.12, 1913.

1,1 15,598. Patented Nov. 3, 1914.

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WITNESSES 1 ENZOR @Znw/J UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELMER S. SHIMER, OF MILTON, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO STAR SPEEDOMETER COMPANY, OF MILTON, PENNSYLVANIA.

ODOMETER-DRIVING MECHANISM.

To all whom it may concern vBe it known that I, ELMER S. SHIMER, of Milton, in the county of Northumberland, and in the State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Odometer-Drivin g Mechanisms, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to that type of odometers which are applied to the hubs of vehicle wheels so as to revolve with the wheel and the registering mechanism of which is actuated by the engagement of a planetary wheel with a relatively stationary member or element secured to or connected with the non-rotating axle of the wheel, and the object of my invention is to avoid any alteration of the axle structure so that the work of applying the odometer is simplified or facilitated and can be done by a person having no special mechanical skill or aptitude, and to this end my invention consists in the odometer driving mechanism constructed substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure l is a longitudinal section of an embodiment of my invention, a portion of the wheel axle being shown; Fig. 2 is a view in end elevation looking at, the interior of the odometer; Fig. 3 a detail view in perspective of the stationary tooth carrying member of the forms shown in Figs. 1 and 2, for engagement with the axle cotter pin; Fig. 4 is a similar View of a form of said member adapted for use with a grooved or castellated nut, such as is commonly used on automobile axles.

As my invention is not dependent upon, and has no particular connection with the construction of the registering mechanism of the odometer, it is suflicient to state that the registering mechanism shown in the drawings is constructed like that forming the subject of an application for patent filed the 12th day of March, 1913, by Wallace R. Dudley, and which application, together with my present application, has been assigned to the Star Speedometer Company, and said registering mechanism designated generally by the reference numeral 10, is mounted in a cylindrical case 11 having at its open inner end a screw threaded flange 12 by which it may be screwed to the outer end of the wheel hub 13. Said registering Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed March 12, 1913.

Patented Nov. 3, 1914. Serial No. 753,878.

mechanism is contained within a chamber at the outer end of the case formed between the outer wall of the case and a partition 14 which is secured therein, and upon the inner side of said partition and outer side of said chamber is a star toothed wheel 15 journaled eccentrically of the case and of the vehicle wheel, which star toothed wheel is planetary gear that revolves with the wheel hub and is intermittently turned about its own axis, and its motion is trans mitted to the registering mechanism of the odometer, all as is set forth in the Dudley application above referred to.

In the path of the teeth of the planetary wheel, as it revolves with the axle, is a nonrotating tooth 16 mounted upon, or connected with the stationary non-rotating wheel axle, which, acting upon a tooth of the planetary wheel, as the latter is carried around with the wheel hub, partially turns it on its own axis. The tooth 16 projects radially from the hub-like block 17 which has a central axially extending hole by which it is rotatably mounted upon a pintle-like projection 18 attached to and projecting toward the end of the wheel axle from the partition plate 14 of the odometer case 10, the pivotal connection between the tooth l6 and the odometer case, which is thus formed, being for the purpose of enabling the odometer case to revolve with the hub without turning said tooth-carrying member, which, as will be presently explained, is so connected to the non-rotating axle, or some part thereof, as to be restrained from rotation.

I illustrate in the drawings two modes of so connecting the planetary wheel revolving tooth 16 with the axle as to avoid any work upon or alteration of the latter. In the case shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the wheel axle has a cotter pin 19 for pinning to the axle a nut 20 used in motor vehicle construction, the ends of which cotter pin project free of the nut, and in this case I provide the tooth bearing block or hub 17 with preferably two diametrically opposite legs 21 spaced apart so that they will straddle the portion of the nut contiguous to the exposed ends of the cotter pin and having their outer free ends slotted or bifurcated so as to pass over the exposed ends of the cotter pin, and thus turning of the actuating tooth is prevented. Instead of the axle nut construction shown in Figs. 1 and 3, a grooved or oastellated axle nut is used, such nut having a series of diametrically extending slots within its outer face for engagement by a cotter pin driven through the axle, and to adapt my invention to the castellated or grooved nut, the legs 21 of the tooth-carrying hub or block 17 instead of being slotted or bifurcated at their free ends are so shaped as to enter grooves in the nut not occupied by the cotter pin. Between the tooth-carrying block or hub 17 and the casing partition 14, a coil spring 22 is placed and thereby a limited endwise or axial movement of said block or hub is provided for, such movement being desirable for the proper application of the odometer to the vehicle hub.

The advantage and importance of my invention will be evident when it is considered that the axles of motor vehicles are made of chrome nickel vanadium steel that is exceedingly hard so that any cutting or drilling andv tapping thereof with threads for the connection therewith of the nonrotating tooth, is undesirable, not only because of the difficulty of the work, but because of the inconvenience that would be caused and the requirement of mechanical skill to do the work.

By my invention the odometer, including its operating mechanism, is self-contained and ready for application to the wheel and its application to the wheel involves no other operation than the removal of the usual hub cap from the hub and the substitution therefor of my odometer, the casing of which is a cap for the hub.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. In an odometer, the combination of a casing adapted to be attached to a wheel hub so as to rotate therewith, a planetary wheel mounted in said casing, a tooth in the path of the teeth of the planetary wheel as it revolves with the wheel hub, a loose connection between the odometer casing and said tooth that permits independent rotary and axial movement of casing and tooth, and means for engaging said tooth with the wheel axle.

2. In an odometer, the combination of a casing adapted to be attached to a wheel hub so as to rotate therewith, the casing having an interior partition that forms a mechanism support, a planetary wheel mounted on said partition on the side next to the end of the wheel axle, a central projection on the same side of said partition, a hub supported by said projection with a rotary connection so that the casing may revolve independently of the hub, and said connection permitting independent axial movement of the hub and easing, a radial tooth on the hub in the path of the teeth of the planetary wheel, and legs projecting from the hub and constituting means for connecting the hub with the wheel axle so that thereby the hub is held from turning.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

7 ELMER S. SHIMER.

Witnesses WAL ACE R. DUDLEY, WM. P. WENDLE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

